As - what I am sure will become to be known as - the great FPS battlefield game drought continues, I am forced to look at military computer games that would normally turn me off. The latest in the 'Call of Duty' series is just such a game, having had my fingers burnt with CoD4 - which promised so much, but delivered so little - I am reticent to fork out more money on a game that will likely have the longevity of a fly that smokes and eats at McDonalds.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and until such time as BF3 or OFP2 are finally released I may find that I have to seek a 'quick fix' with something like 'Call of Duty: World at War'.

OK, reservations aside, the game - as you will see from the trailer below - is just as pretty as CoD4 and certainly induces that 'wow' factor. Things blow up, it's uber-violent - in a way that computer gamers like to believe is 'realism' - and the detail and atmosphere certainly recreate an immersive WW2 environment. But there again, there's two types of realism in computer games, levels of simulation that separates the arcade FPS from the true battlefield sim.

Above: Undoubtedly it will be the addition of the flame thrower to the CoD:WaW inventory that will have the 'Deathmatch' multiplayers licking their lips. But this sort of graphic violence is just an antidote to the shallowness of the gameplay. Credit: Screenshot is the property of Activision, Call of Duty: World at War

Infinity Ward - the developer - seem to simply be giving the ardent CoD4 fan some more of the same in different clothes with CoD:WaW. And in a way its back to basics in the game environment, with the battlefields of the Second World War being modelled.

For those of you who played the also very successful CoD2, you'll remember those superb Russian maps and excellent - but short - Russian single player segment to the game. This aspect of the earlier game was what initiated my interest in our Soviet allies (of former times), and I was one of those that relished the Eastern Front maps and regularly played the Russian side. So the latest trailer for CoD: WaW makes the game particularly attractive to those of us who enjoyed playing the Soviet forces in the earlier CoD2.

What seems to have been added to the earlier game formula is CoD4's superb graphics and it's bonus scoring system, which were the undoubted hits of the last episode in the Call of Duty franchise. The trailer is like scenes of CoD2 on steroids!

Credit: Screenshot is the property of Activision, Call of Duty: World at War

As a substitute for a real battlefield FPS CoD:WaW may soon be found wanting, but while that 'wow' factor and the novelty of the new maps and new Co-Op mode lasts this game may provide a few weeks of distraction as the dark winter nights draw in. So while I remain unconvinced by this franchise, the thought of playing Soviet soldiers once again has me ready to part with the rubels and cry "Oorrah Pobieda"!

(Note: As mentioned in my commentary, CoD:WaW contains very graphic violence, as such Activision has added a ridiculous 'birthday stipulation' method of censorship to it's media, trailers and web site.)

Other links:-

> GameSpy: Callof Duty: World at War preview
> Activision Call of Duty HQ